Industry specialists also recommend the undergrounding of power lines and that distributors comply with the law to perform maintenance.
Advice to electric utilities: more transformers and tree trimming
Following the power outages that have kept 964 customers without service until today, four engineers specializing in electrical issues gave their recommendations to Enel to prevent events such as Saturday’s snowstorm from happening again.
1 Work close to municipalities. According to Hugh Rudnick, an academic and researcher at Catholic University, distribution companies could work more closely with municipalities. “For example, to carry out a pruning plan in the fall for trees that are at high risk of falling,” he explains. One of the main causes of power outages in recent days was the fall of branches and trees on the power lines.
2 It is not a matter of changing the law, but of complying with it. Although experts agree that the regulation of energy distribution in the General Law of Electrical Services “is somewhat outdated”, according to the general manager of the consulting firm Energética, María Isabel González, the problem is that the companies do not even comply with it. “The law requires distribution companies to keep the areas where they have their facilities clear. There is even a safety strip and the operating costs include this maintenance. But the companies do not do it. If they did, many outages could be avoided,” he suggests.
3 To have more stocks. “Companies should have a minimum stock of transformers, so that when they fail, they can go and change them quickly,” says the R&D director of the consulting firm SPEC, Eduardo Pereira. On Saturday, it was reported that some transformers even exploded due to the snowfall. “When there are specific cases, there is no problem with the stock of transformers, but when 4 or 5 communities are affected, it does not hold up,” Pereira explains.
4 Burying. Another option, according to Electroconsultores partner Francisco Aguirre, is to build the power line underground. “This could increase electricity rates by quite a bit. It’s a reality that would have to be considered if you want to go underground,” he warns. Aguirre explains that one third of what is paid in electricity bills corresponds to the distribution factor, and that this value could increase by 7 to 10 times if the power lines are underground, depending on the district and sector.
